Wednesday, August 31, 2011

"Isn't it strange how we remember much of the sinners and so little of the saints." -- Pinkerton detective Lowell Spence in 1949 said about Kid Curry's death in 1903. From the book The Wild Bunch (copyright 1958) by James D. Horan.

One of the things to do in Glenwood Springs was to visit Doc Holliday's grave. After Tombstone and moving around Colorado, Doc Holliday came to Glenwood Springs in 1887 for the waters in hopes to cure him of tuberculosis. That is where he died and was buried at Linwood Cemetery.

Without Doc Holliday's biographers and western mythological fiction, the Linwood Cemetery would be grown over with grass and shrub. There would be few visitors 100 years later. However, tourism is business. The city constructed hiking trail skirts the top of a nearby mountain where the cemetery commands a beautiful view of the valley.

Considering my long time fascination with the western cowboy myth, I had to make the pilgrimage to Holliday's grave. It was a warm day for a hike on the well worn trail with strategically placed signs pointing to the direction of the city installed Doc Holliday memorial stone.

Further cemetery and Doc Holliday history appears on city erected markers. These signs provide an abbreviated version of the detail that can be found in a Wikipedia entry for Doc Holliday.

I've always wonder why many western Rocky Mountain cemeteries are atop a rocky hill over looking the town below. Today this would be prime residential real estate for the views. Why a cemetery up here. Not easy to get to and excavating a hole in the rock strewn surface must have been a real chore for the grave diggers.

The grave site of the "sinner" is the draw to this mountain top. Checking out a few of the other memorials in the cemetery, I looked for memorials for the graves of business leaders or founders of Glenwood Springs 100 years ago. Nothing to be found.

Updated the cell phone (*228) and now there are two bars for EVDO. One bar for 1X. That is a whole lot better than the zip that I had before the update.

No. Unfortunately, I wasn't bright enough to figure that out myself. Had a 3GStore pre-sales discussion. Reason for contacting them was to find something to improve the signal for the cell phone. Explaining to the rep that I had two bars on Mi-Fi but nothing on the cell phone, he wondered about updating the cell phones roaming. Right there I knew that was the answer.

My gadget collection includes a Wilson signal amplifier and the truckers antenna. Had that for those times when I was parked remote. At one time, I had a cell phone and an air card with capability to attach an external antenna. That signal amplifier worked great. Unfortunately, I no longer can use that hardware since my current cell phone and the Mi-Fi card do not have capability for an external antenna.

What to do. 3GStore had the answer; the Wilson Sleek will meet those remote connectivity requirements in the future. It will be ordered tomorrow to ship to general delivery in Ridgeway -- my next stop in Colorado.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Arrived at Colorado River Islands SP just east of Palisade and noticed a cell tower on the ridge about a mile east of the park entrance. Considering I like to be connected, that tower's proximity would make for a pleasant camping experience.

Atop the levee just outside my front door, the Colorado River is the scenery and it is solitude. Mostly solitude.

The Colorado River already carved a path through the mountains making it prime route for railroad and freeway. Not too many trains -- mostly coal going east. Of course the freeway is busy at all times. Parked on the far side of the park, there is little noticeable freeway noise.

Great sunsets and sunrises with the sun reflection off the red canyon walls. The blue sky and frequent clouds present a natural beauty of which I do not tire. Somebody has to watch those clouds.

Great park location with great scenery. Unfortunately, that cell tower is probably not there courtesy of Verizon. Probably there for that other carrier that I will never do business with -- again.

The campgrounds location in the canyon interferes with a good Verizon signal. The cell phone reception is poor to non-existent. No point in trying to make a phone call. The call will be dropped in seconds. If I can make the call.

What I don't understand is that my Verizon 4G Mi-Fi card shows two bars all the time. Occasionally it drops to the slower 1X speeds, but most of the time the speeds are at EVDO (Broadband). No doubt data error recover makes it look like it is always connected.

It is just another of the trials and tribulations of getting internet, but being away from the city crowds. I suppose there is some kind of amplifier gadget that can be used for cell phones that don't have capability for an external antenna. Perhaps I can hold off on another gadget.

For now to make a phone call, I head to near by Palisade. (Note to self. It's not that bad. Get used to it.)

Palisade grows peaches. Lots of them. With the peach and produce stands every half mile throughout the Palisade area, it is difficult to decide where to stop for ripe peaches. My final choice was excellent. A small grower with only 12 acres of trees, they pick the crop themselves. The peaches are ripe and I've been having a peach with at least one meal a day. Tomorrow, it is time to get more peaches.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

There is no "bucket list" in my life. My exploring and living life is what is convenient.

That convenience happened recently when parked at Rifle Gap State Park. Located about 40 miles from Glenwood Springs, the destination was Hanging Lake for a hike. It was back in the early 1970s when I first heard about Hanging Lake. Too far to go for a day hike from my one time home in Denver, it would require at least a weekend trip.

Proximity to Glenwood Springs makes it a popular hike. The popularity of the hike puts a strain on the 116 parking spaces for weekends -- according to a local. Arriving early morning mid-week, I had no problem getting a space. However, when I returned from the hike, there wasn't a parking space available. A vehicle was waiting to take my space.

The sign at the trail head covered the essential points. Satisfied the pre-reqs for water and hiking shoes.

Signs didn't mean anything to some of the hikers. If they read them. There were hikers with a can of soda. A few were walking in flip-flops.

In spite of the little hiking and walking I've done in the recent past, I may not have been in the poor shape I thought I was. Managed to keep up with some of the younger set -- that is about 40 years younger.

The lake is a natural scenic gem. With benches constructed along the edge of the lake, some visitors brought a lunch. Most were taking photos of the turquoise colored lake. Most had real cameras except for the lady taking photos with her iPad.

Some of that younger set walked along a log which lay on the surface of the lake.

A further trek up a side trail above the lake found the source of the water. In addition to a falls from an unseen river above, there was water spouting from the rock just below the falls.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Arrived mid day at Meeker (Colorado) to stay overnight at City Park. Once settled, I walked about four blocks to downtown. Meeker is a small town. Not a single traffic signal. My downtown walk proved there was not much going on that Sunday afternoon. Few places attracted my curiosity. Didn't seem to be much in the way of places to eat -- not that I was looking.

The real action was going on back at City Park. It was war games. Or maybe it wasn't war games considering the sound and fury that was voiced from some of the fighters.

As a kid, we played the good and bad cowboys -- the law and the outlaws. Some of us had "real" toy guns. Some had carved pieces of wood that looked like a gun. Making the sounds of gunfire, we pointed our weapons at the enemy. Some cooperated and pretended to be hurt. Mostly the make believe gunfire missed the intended victim.

Things seem to have changed in 60 years. Not cowboys or outlaws and six shooters. The weapons at Meeker were toy machine guns and Uzis -- with the appropriate sounds. One of the combatants seemed to be holding a canister of something that may have been ammo for these toy guns. Could that be. Not the cap pistols of my youth, but real projectiles of some sort. Considering some of the kids' flinching movements, I really did wonder if there was some kind of projectile from the guns.

Soon the war games stopped apparently as the result of a peace treaty or defeat. Soon it seemed rather than two mobs, it was one straggling mob headed away from the park.

The irony of these war games in Meeker in 2011 was not lost on me. The human wars in this neighborhood started with the Meeker Massacre in 1879.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

At Rabbit Ears Pass found lots of wild flowers still in bloom. At the last stages of their bloom they were still putting on a colorful show.

Continuing west from Rabbit Ears, the Yampa River valley provides a view to the horizon. For scenic material, it doesn't get much better that this. How about waking each morning to this view. Better yet, it faces west to see afternoon clouds roll in. On other natural high days, watch a sunset drop below the horizon.

It's been about 20 years since my last visit to Steamboat Springs. Things have changed. The town has gone from cattle ranchers' supply town to a ski town with all the attendant condos and chalets covering every acre of hillside south of the old down town.

They keep coming to Steamboat Springs. Met several when at the Ford dealer. Detected a New York accent on the service advisor. Had to get out of Wall Street. Or so he said. Not sure what he did. Why Steamboat Springs. Loves to fish. Not sure I got the whole story.

The 25 year old mechanic rode with me to hear Silver Slug's squeaky rattle. A native of Phoenix, he was done with heat. Especially as an auto mechanic. The job is under cars, always skinned and cut hands, dirty greasy hands... No plans to make auto mechanics a career as he heads back to college next year in Colorado. Still loving the green and cool of Colorado.

The third guy (mid 30s) arrived from Washington DC. DC area was just too crowded for him. Just packed up one day and headed west with Colorado as a destination. Settled on Steamboat Springs and is employed in maintenance for a large resort. After a year, still loves the slower pace and closer skiing. No need to travel long distances for bad snow. And let's not mention the DC area traffic.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The Canon SX230 is a great little camera. Of late, it is the camera I use all the time -- regardless of my exploring. The other cameras in my arsenal are being used less. That SX230 is compact and takes great photos.

Got a close up of a mountain blue bird at my camp site at Rifle Gap State Park.

A quiet and very remote park. No cell phone signal here. So headed to cell phone range to post this.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Dream on.... Nice image, but neither the dog nor the owner cleaned up the canine feces this time. Commonly referred to as dog shit.

Unplugging from the power pole is when I stepped in it with both sandaled feet. Of course my very loud verbal response was "OH SHIT". It's gooey and smells. Donning a pair of surgical gloves with a tooth brush, I proceeded to clean the sandal treads under a water faucet. Disposed of the gloves and toothbrush and hitched up and left the campground. Glad to be gone from there and never to return.

It was a poor start to a good day. Fortunately, I got over it once I was several miles down the road.

To this dog's owner (paraphrasing Johnny Carson's Carnac): "May the fleas of a thousand Great Danes nest in your shorts."

Saturday, August 20, 2011

The journey continued up the Poudre River to lakes and reservoirs at 10,000 feet. Green is the predominant color except for the number of lodge pole pines that are dying or dead. Some slopes are entirely brown. Others are more interspersed with the dead and the living. This wet summer may preclude a forest fire. However, a well place lightening strike could cause fire to consume the living and the dead across these slopes. That fire will happen. Some time.

Cameron Pass at 10,000 feet is the head waters for the Poudre Canyon. Considering the cool -- make that cold -- nights at that elevation, I opted to continue my journey to a lower elevation. Wandrin Wagon would have been in a photo atop Cameron Pass. However, with construction at the view site, that didn't happen. While waiting for a flagger's permission to proceed, I managed to get a photo of snow fields on nearby mountain peaks.

From Cameron Pass, the road drops into North Park. Great wide open spaces with views that go to the horizon -- or the nearest stack of hay.

There were numerous photo ops. However, with Wandrin Wagon in tow there was no place to stop to capture the ranch buildings or the derelict cabin on the slopes of Cameron Pass.

So moving on... Walden is the population center (about 700) of North Park. The county seat for Jackson County, there were no additions to this courthouse from its original construction about 100 years ago. It appears that growth is not something with which to be concerned. The interior is original with creaking wood floors and transoms over the doors to allow for circulation.

Across the street from the courthouse was this gem of house construction. Faced with rock, it is a tribute to the original builder's labor of love.

No doubt every kid grows up in this town or North Park ranches and can't wait to leave. Most likely most of them do.

Although an attractive little town at 8000 foot elevation, my bet is that the winters are long and the summers are short. No need for air conditioning here.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Several have written emails saying that they are not able to post comments at my blog. So after testing with different browsers, I've gone back to the "full page" version of comments. It seems the option "Embedded below post" does not work consistently.

Time to get those Google employees to fix this. Spend more time at the Google desk and less time at the cafeteria, yoga classes, the gym or what ever Google company benefit that happens to be their favorite.

Hopefully, my parameter change allows comments to appear once again.

Since I am on the subject of Blogger, some of you have no doubt noted the side bar gadget on the blog which lists the most popular posts based on statistics for the past month. About a week ago, I noticed the blog entry Airplane Nose Art from last October was among the most popular. Really cannot figure out how come. The number of hits is about half of those from the top item. How come so many hits almost a year after the original post. Where are those hits coming from. The referring sites/URLs contain the same sites/URLs that always appear.

Perhaps the URL is part of an email that is circulating among those interested in WWII airplane nose art. Whatever the source, I find it fascinating about the blog entry's popularity.

Glad to have left Front Range Colorado after over two months. Didn't take long to get off the beaten path as Silver Slug towed Wandrin Wagon along the winding Poudre River in the canyon formed by the river over the eons of geologic time.

From my research before this journey, I found numerous National Forest campgrounds along the river. From the campground descriptions I had narrowed my choices to just a few along the way. Tree cover is not a good idea when using solar power. Too many trees also interfere with satellite radio signals.

Wandrin Wagon was parked. Didn't bother to unhitch Silver Slug. I wasn't going anywhere -- until the next morning. A large space just a few feet from the river was optimal. Great fishing according to a fisherman walking along the shore of the Poudre.

No interest there. My idea of fishing is looking through the selection at the grocery store.

It was a day to relax with the river noises providing white noise. Began my restful day making a cup of tea. Turning my attention to books, I finished reading borrowed library downloaded eBooks.

Without a Verizon signal to waste time on the internet, I was unable to
get moment by moment comments on the state of the recession -- or perhaps it isn't a recession. I don't stay on top of news when I do have the internet. The internet is used mostly for music, selected
podcasts, selected blogs, etc. The music provides background while working on photos or other computer projects.

Cooler than the Front Range by about 10 degrees. It was very comfortable in the low 80s. Night time temperatures were cool at 6600 feet. It was 49 degrees outside when I got up. That explained why I dug out a large blanket in the middle of the night as the temperature dropped inside.

As I was getting ready to move the next morning, this new bloom greeted the day.

It was a perfect campground for my first night away from the maddening
crowds at Boyd Lake. At $8.50 (with geezer card) a night, it was a
pleasurable stay.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Seems early, but my nomadic travels to winter quarters south of I-10 begins tomorrow. Recently I noted that the August mornings are a little cooler. Time to begin the migration.

Tomorrow morning, I leave Boyd Lake State Park behind. There are few campers remaining mid week. Last night was the first time I was able to leave the windows open without being overcome with smoke from camp fires. It was great.

The planned travel route is Poudre Canyon west from Fort Collins and continuing west and south to Ridgeway State Park (near Ouray) -- with numerous stops along the way for exploring. First day of travel will be short when I stop at a National Forest Campground in Poudre Canyon. Guessing it might be 60 miles from here. I'll be away from the frantic rushing of the Front Range cities and an afternoon nap would be a great prescription for the accumulated stress level.

Since this route had not been taken before, the planning, campground option research, anticipated winding canyon roads and slogging mountain passes are causing stress. After all these years of travel into the unfamiliar, it would seem that a new and unknown route would not bother me. But it does. I won't sleep well as a result. Intellectually, I can tell myself not to fret. Easy for me to say. Regardless, it's the unknown that produces the stress.

Trying to stay balanced is tough.

When I arrived at Boyd Lake SP (Loveland area) two weeks ago, the Verizon data access was at 3G speeds after I had come from the 4G speeds of Denver. Last night was the switch over to 4G in Loveland. Now I have to go through withdrawal once again.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

On the campus of Colorado State University the annual flower garden was full of summer color. Rather than the usual scenic shots of flowers, I opted for a different view point. Perhaps an insect might see the flowers this way.

Walking further taking more flower photos, we came across this. Wow. Andy Warhol immediately came to mind. I was right. His signature is on the piece. Why here in Fort Collins.

On the back of the art piece was this:

That would explain this unusual location for Warhol pop-art.

Thirty years later is a reason for doing perspectives of Warhol and CSU. An Andy Warhol exhibit appears at the University Art Museum until mid September. A visit to the museum would have been appropriate, but it was another half hour to the opening at 11:00. So Rich and I passed and headed off to Old Town Fort Collins for a raw fish lunch -- sushi and sashimi.

Friday, August 12, 2011

...to statins for elevated cholesterol. That was my decision after mind numbing research on the internet.

In the Body Maintenance, I posted that the doctor said with my family history and my cholesterol numbers, I was a candidate for stroke. That scared me enough to start taking the presribed Zocor generic. At the time, I started taking the drug, I also knew that I would stop taking the drug in just a couple of weeks. It didn't take that long.

The routine of taking the statin and stopping had been done before. Perhaps five or six times.

There is lots of discussion on the internet about statins -- pro and con. Considering the profit motive on both sides, it is difficult to determine the truth in any of this. All seem to have biases one way or another as they market books, their health supplements or just healthy living. Hopefully, I have ignored all of those.

Several articles are at SpaceDoc. How To Determine If You Really Need a Statin is most interesting. It speaks of detail about the varieties of cholesterol floating in the bloodstream. My belief is that the researchers really don't know what affects what and which of the many identifiable particles contribute to what in the body.

There were hundreds more articles and references. Really. I didn't need anymore corroboration to stop taking the drug.

What is the real risk to me for not taking a statin. Don't really know. In all the internet searches, I came across this heart attack or stroke risk assessment at Consumers Reports. The results showed that I had a 23% chance of a heart attack or stroke in the next ten years. For someone in optimal health, their risk was 11%.

To me, that difference is not worth taking the statin.

It is a mathematical fact that fifty percent of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class. ~Author Unknown

Monday, August 8, 2011

Couldn't resist. Borders bookstore going out of business. Bought several (12 to be exact) at 20% off. Mostly new titles that would be $13 as eBooks, these $16 soft covers cost me a little more than the eBook version. The good part is that a physical book has resale value when I sell them to Bookmans at 25% of the books price. The result is a net cost of about $9 per book.

Library eBooks.... However, I found an even better deal. Borrowing ebooks from a library. Son TJ loaned me his Westminster library card. Thank you TJ. That allows me to access the loanable library of ebooks from my iPad via the OverDrive App. The app includes browsing the shelves or search for specific available titles or authors. Just like a library, a book can be put on hold so when available, an email will be sent for me to download the available book.

Similar to a library's lending of real books, the ebooks are lent for a seven day read. At least that is my experience for the two books that I have downloaded. When done reading, with a swipe of my finger on the iPad, the book is returned to the library.

Don't have an iPad.... The process to borrow library ebooks can also be done from your computer via Adobe Digital Editions. Download the book to your computer and read the book with Digital Editions. Don't want to read on your computer. The book can be put on an eReader that supports the ePub format. That would be the Nook among others. Not the Kindle. Read the ebook and when done with the book, "return" the book to the library via the Digital Edition software.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

On a hike to Bridal Veil Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park with Donna and Roy, it was an overcast and at times rainy day. Lots of photo ops along the way with a few close ups.

This looks like a beetle, but since I am not an entomologist, it could be lots of things in the world of insects. Not a butterfly, moth or dragon fly, I'm opting for a beetle. Probably wrong about that. Perhaps I should just stick with a red winged insect slurping nectar or eating pollen on a yellow wild flower.

How about some hikers on the trail ahead on the way to the falls.

The destination -- Bridal Veil Falls:

After dining on a snack at the falls, we headed back to the trail head.

I've hiked to Bridal Veil many times when living in Denver -- spring, summer, fall and including winter when the falls were a cascade of ice. This 1993 scanned photo of Rich standing in front of the falls as suspended water.

No more winter hiking (snow shoeing) for this guy. Much prefer summer.

Friday, August 5, 2011

I knew what to expect. A campground on a lake brings lots of people -- and kids -- with boats. Especially on the weekends. I arrived mid week from the Elks Lodge which is essentially a 55+ campground. When I arrived here at Boyd Lake State Park, it was a great two days until the crowds started appearing early this morning -- even before I headed off to do my exploring.

The camp fires are already lit early afternoon and the air is filled with the smell of smoke. Making matters worse, to encourage camp fires, a park concession drives through all the loops in the park selling more fire wood. Many people may not have thought of a fire, but now the firewood is delivered (for a price) to the campsite. The campers can't turn that down.

I already know there is no hope of having open windows this evening to enjoy the cool of the evening and the sound of crickets. As those fires die down, the dying embers produce only smoke. That smoke will find any open windows. Mostly mine.

Sitting around a fire, chatting and telling stories is fun. The good part is that as the wind changes, one can move around the camp fire to stay out of the smoke. Sitting inside Wandrin Wagon, it is not so easy to move to avoid the smoke.

It was a nice park when I was one of the three in this loop of the campground. Now. Not so good. I will get over it. The camping masses with their boats will all be gone by mid Sunday afternoon.

Here I find myself in the middle of the kiddie and boating world. Wonder if there is a 55+ campground where every one is in bed by RV midnight -- eight or nine. And there are no camp fires.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

When parked in Denver, I was impatient with the slow speeds on the Verizon 3G network on the MiFi card. That impatience caused me to head into a Verizon store. Soon I was $100 poorer and I had a Verizon 4G MiFi card.

It was worth it. The speeds were noticeably faster. Soon, downloads became a habit. Had to change from the 5GB data plan for $50 to 10GB for $80 a month.

That was Denver. I was spoiled like the little kid that I can sometimes be. Yesterday, Wandrin Wagton was moved to Loveland at Boyd Lake State Park. Back to the slow speeds of 3G. Rats. The Verizon towers have not been updated in this market. Fortunately, the MiFi card is downward compatible. Down to National Access (1X) if I find myself in such a location in my travels. Hope not. Oh well. There is always free (for the price of tea) WiFi someplace along the route.

Looking at the Verizon 4G coverage map, the next time a 4G market is on my anticipated travel route, I will be in San Diego. That will be December. Withdrawal is tough to deal with.

History predicts that it is only a matter of time before the 4G band width will be consumed and download speeds will have tanked just like 3G is today. What does it look like for the future. Cisco forecasts internet traffic in 2015 to be four times current usage.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

This mornings lead article on Google News was not the debate about the debt ceiling. This morning the lead article was about the weather. Something else over which we mere mortals have no control.

No doubt you have heard about the debt ceiling debate in the US Senate and US Congress. Another battle of the tribes and their warlords is finally over. They've declared a truce until they find something new to battle over and occupy media headlines. We know there will be no peace in the future for these adversaries. They've said so as they signed the peace pact.

Since it isn't good for my health or balance, I haven't been staying too close to the daily drama.

For some humor about the drama over these past weeks, check out Andy's Featured Stories at the Borowitz Report.

Suggested reading for the Democrat and Republican tribes and their warlords is this excerpt from an article at Psychology Today.

"Principled negotiation is a strategy that seeks to move both parties away from polarizing and usually entrenched positions, and into the realm of interests. It asks how both parties can get their interests satisfied while keeping their relationship strong. Negotiating well means neither party need feel cheated, manipulated, or taken advantage of."

Not going to happen between these two tribes -- especially a faction of one of the warring parties.

Monday, August 1, 2011

"When he can look out upon the universe, now lucid and lovely, now dark and terrible, with a sense of his own littleness in the great scheme of things, and yet have faith and courage. When he knows how to make friends and keep them, and above all, when he can keep friends with himself.

"When he can be happy alone and high-minded amid the drudgeries of life. When he can look into a wayside puddle and see something besides mud, and into the face of the most forlorn mortal and see something divine.

"When he knows how to live, how to love, how to hope, how to pray -- is glad to be alive... and has in his heart a bit of a song."